The Anxiety Disease: New Hope for the Millions Who Suffer from Anxiety

For someone battling anxiety, it gives great perspectives on how to help deal with it

I am a practicing dentist who has suffered from Panic attacks for over 30 years. In that time Panic Disorder has caused me several personal and professional challenges. As a health care provider you would think that I would completely understand what is involved with this condition, but I am still learning.This book is right on the money. It depicts what a person with a REAL PANIC DISORDER experiences. David V. Sheehan, M.D. has certainly researched this area thoroughly. The case histories he presents are very accurate to what I have experienced personally. The extreme terror of Panic attacks, fear of recurring attacks, the embarassment, guilt, avoidance issues, phobias, social, family and legal issues encountered, frustration, and eventually helplessness, depression, and alcohol or drug abuse is clearly and accurately described. They are explained in a way any person or family member of a person suffering from this debilitating disease can understand and relate to.Dr. Sheehan explains the difference between the anxiety that most people experience and the type of anxiety and panic a person with this disease experiences. They are different. I have read other self help books, which apparently don't know the difference between the two types of anxiety and panic. These self help books tend to navigate toward everyday worry and dealing with situations that cause you to be anxious. This is totally different than what Dr. Sheehan explains in his book. These self help books are helpful as an adjunctive tool, but do not explain what a REAL Panic Disorder is like. This book does. Trust me I've been there. I know what they are, and how they can totally control your life. I wish I had read this book 20 years ago.The modern thinking that all this can be controlled without medication, in my opinion, is misleading. There are several excercises, methods of relaxation, support groups, etc. These do help, are of value, and may be effective for certain individuals, but they don't always work completely or for everyone. My advice, read this book. Find a Psychiatrist who is very familiar with this disease. Follow his recommendations. You really don't need to suffer. You can be helped, and this book is a great place to start. Even if you are totally against medication, Dr. Sheehan's description of Panic Disorder and it's symptoms and stages is helpful in putting your mind somewhat at ease knowing you're not alone or crazy.If you are a family member, friend, or co-worker of someone who has this disease, this is a great book to help you understand what they are experiencing, why they avoid certain situations, the fear of recurring episodes and why they react the way they do during a Panic episode. They aren't losing their mind or tryng to be difficult. They are terrified about what is happening or may happen. This book will help you help them.As a practicing dentist, I would encourage my colleagues to read this book. We deal with anxious patients all the time, and it is helpful to have an idea of which type of anxiety disorder you are dealing with.Buy the book, don't borrow it. It's only $8. Buy it and keep it for re-reading and reinforcement. I do and it has helped immensely. I would have given this 5 stars, but it is dated, and some of the newer medications available are not discussed. You should see your Physician or Psychiatrist before starting any new medication anyway.

This is a very good self help book if you have anxiety. Even if you don’t m owe you have it or u have panic attacks. It teaches you how to co tell the feelings and be more aware of the oncoming attacks. Panic attacks and anxiety can be debilitating and scary. The book doesn’t take the place of a licensed therapist but in conjunction with a therapist, you can manage to control and or stave off these feelings.

Happy to find this again after many years.... thanks Amazon. Bought several copies for the younger generation in our family who are now dealing with genetic anxiety tendencies/disorders.I find this book to be extremely helpful, even though it's dated, because the author thoroughly describes why some people require medical care from a trained doctor and medication to manage their chronic, unprovoked anxiety attacks. He identifies the symptoms and treatments. along with helpful insights gleaned from his medical practice of anxiety disorders.For some people, the common remedies of stress management, diet, exercise and lifestyle improvements are not enough to resolve anxiety problems and panic attacks. This book provides education and guidance to those people about what might be happening and where to turn for medical help.There are medical solutions identified in the book that can help.. The author offers concrete, understandable information, possible solutions, and optimism.The author is a Harvard Medical School trained specialist in anxiety disorders. This book is well-written and may help people find their way to wellness if they suffer from this debilitating disorder.I had hoped to find more current books on this subject, but unfortunately most books/authors are still fixated on remedies that do not work for people who have a medical disease. For those people, this book may offer their solutions.

I first read this book back in the '80s and for me it was a gift. I was suffering from panic attacks but nobody understood what was going on. This book gave me a perfect description of what was wrong. I went on Paxil in 1994 and have not suffered a single panic attack since.

You say some everyday happenings make your pulse pound while everyone else is dozing off....this is the book developed to instruct the anxious among us in plain American what meds we may use to straighten out the invariable curves that arise in our normally straight journey through this life experience. It's presented as a case study (interesting and relatable ) about one psych's approach to control the devils in our mind that keep us from achieving the accomplishments we know we should.

Good book, not great. I did find some useful information. The fact that it's so outdated makes for a difficult read.

If you have anxiety/Panic you should read this book. Also see what Mayo is now saying about Anxiety, where low Iron and B6, B12 may be the culprits not allowing us to produce our own Serotonin in our Stomach. The Gut Brain Connection.